The NHL's new divisions don't yet have names, but they will soon—and commissioner Gary Bettman had some bad news for traditionalists hoping for a return of the Adams, Norris, Patrick and Smythe.

"We’re hoping to use the names that make it easiest to conjure up which teams are where," Bettman told reporters on a Thursday conference call discussing the realignment plan, which was passed by the Board of Governors and will be in place next season.

Bettman's words all but guarantee more regional divisional labels, rather than the pre-1993 system centered around the surnames of league founders. Nostalgists were rooting for the latter, or potentially an updated version—think Gretzky, Orr, Lemieux, Howe.

That's not going to happen. Bettman mentioned picking names that were geographically based and "fan-friendly." Pacific, Midwest and Atlantic make sense. The fly in the ointment, though, is what's currently known as Division C—it's the current Northeast Division plus the Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning. Good luck finding a geographic term that applies to both Montreal and South Florida.

As for why those teams are grouped together at all, Bettman said "whatever we did wasn't going to be perfect." And he's right—once Columbus and Detroit entered the Eastern Conference, the Southeast Division was doomed, and the die was cast for the Panthers and Lightning. It's tough to imagine those teams being on board, though.

Other bits from the conference call:

— Bettman isn't worried about the fact that 14 Western teams are vying for playoff spots, compared to 16 Eastern teams. He compared it to a coinflip: "As a practical matter it doesn't make a whole lot of difference." The NHLPA reportedly wasn't a fan of the system, though, and it's tough to disagree with it.

— Detroit and Columbus are in the East to stay: "They're moving East and there is no moving back. They have no plans of moving back."

— Relocation and expansion didn't factor into the plans. "We did what we believed as a league was the best thing for the 30 clubs that we have, where they're currently located," Bettman said. Several bids to keep the Phoenix Coyotes in Arizona have collapsed, and Seattle, Quebec City and Southern Ontario are all vying for teams. Adding another Eastern time zone team, in any fashion, would cause problems.

— The league is not ready to announce plans for the 2014 Winter Classic. It has been reported that Detroit and Toronto will play at the University of Michigan's football stadium, as they would've before the lockout. cancelled the 2013 game. Bettman also left the door open for multiple outdoor games and the return of the Heritage Classic.